Shoshone Tribe

Origin

• The Shoshone tribe is also known as the Shoshoni tribe
• Name comes from the word "Sosoni" which means high-growing grasses in Shoshoni
• Call themselves "Newe" which means people
• Speak the Shoshoni language which is part of the Numic languages
• Tribe originated in the western Great Basin (located in Nevada)
• Tribe spread north and east into Idaho and Wyoming

Eastern Shoshone

• Lived in the Rocky Mountains during the 1800s and adopted the Plains horse culture
• Their horses were most helpful when it came to battles
• Primarily settled on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming after Washakie (their leader) signed the Fort Bridger Treaty in 1868
• The eastern Shoshone and The Crow (a Montana tribe) fought over the Wind River
• One day, Washakie challenged and defeated a leading crow warrior and won the River in return
• Participated in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade

and bison hide trade from the 1820s and 1840s

• Washakie earned his position as head leader because of his war prowess and his ability to negotiate with whites

Eastern Shoshone

Northern Shoshone

• Led by Chief Pocatello
• Fought during the 1860s against settlers in Idaho
• Natives raided farms for food and attacked other settlers
• Bear River Massacre (1863)
• US forces attacked and killed about 410 northwestern Shoshone
• Highest number of Shoshone casualties
• Northwestern Band of the Shoshone gained the site of the Bear River Massacre (2008)
• Aim was to protect the holy land

and build a memorial in remembrance

of the massacre

Northern Shoshone

Western Shoshone

• Resided in Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah
• Speak the western dialect of the Shoshone language
• Have been part of many legal battles with the federal government over their land rights
• Filed a claim in 1951 stating that their land has been taken away
• During the American Civil War 1861-1864, the Union needed gold from the Shoshone territory
• In 1863, the tribe signed the Treaty of Ruby Valley which allowed the US to take 23.6 million acres of land
• In 2004, the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act was established by the US to close the 1951 case and to reassure that justice has been served
• President Bush awarded the tribe with $140

million

Western Shoshone

Goshute

• Refer themselves as "Kutsipiuti", meaning "People of the dry earth"
• Practiced hunting and gathering in family groups
• Teamed up with other families two or three times a year for pine nut harvests and communal hunts
• Typically hunted lizards, snakes, small fish, birds, gophers, rabbits, etc.
• Bead-work and basketry was their form of art
• There are five Goshute subtribes
• In 1847, a pact of Mormon pioneers invaded Goshute territory
• In 1849, the Mormons began building permanent structures on their land
• Terrorized their land by occupying their best camping sites, hunting on their grounds, and overgrazing the meadowland
• Mormons believed that Utah was a promised land from God especially for them and didn't think that the tribe had the right to own it
• In return, the Goshute people started confiscating their

cattle

• This angered the Mormons so they sent an army to kill the tribe
• Later that year, the Goshute people stole some cattle from a white

man named Charles White because he invaded their land

Goshute